An assessment in 1983 of $1 million easily makes its silver design the most valuable trophy in American sports. Until 1953, winners were awarded possession of the vase until the following Preakness.

That changed when A. G. Vanderbilt's Native Dancer won it but his wife did not want to take on the immense responsibility of the vase's safekeeping.

The trophy left Louisville in 1878 after a horse from New York won a Churchill Downs race called the Great American Stallion Stakes. The horse's owners took the vase to the East Coast.

"It was used for several races in New York until it was awarded to the Maryland Jockey Club in 1917," said Caroline Martin, of the Derby Museum. "It was awarded on a yearly basis. The winning owner would get to keep the trophy for a year and then bring it back for the next winning owner."

Now, the winning owner is awarded a $30,000 sterling replica on a permanent basis while the perpetual is on display at The Baltimore Museum of Art and brought to Pimlico under guard for the annual running of the Preakness.

The Woodlawn Vase's dirty secret

Standing 34 inches tall and weighing 29 pounds, 12 ounces, the Woodlawn vase has a colorful history as rich as the classic race at which it is presented. Moving from winner to winner since its creation in 1860, its passage was put to an abrupt halt with the outbreak of the Civil War.

While the war was on, racing was put on hold and the vase had to be kept safe, lest it be discovered and melted into shot. To keep it out of harm's way it was buried at Woodlawn with others of the Moore family plate and then dug up again for the next competition in 1866.